Wembley hero Freddie Piquionne: I loved my dark season with Portsmouth - it give me that Spurs FA Cup goal and a Christmas party

The striker arrived from Lyon with aspirations of a permanent Fratton Park presence, the August 2009 loan arrangement tantalisingly accompanied by an option to buy.

What unfolded was arguably the most disastrous club campaign the Premier League has witnessed.

The Blues suffered administration, endured four different owners, lost more than 100 staff through redundancies and, inevitably, were condemned to relegation with five league matches remaining.

Piercing the gloom, however, was their FA Cup adventure, remarkable progress against a catastrophic backdrop, with Avram Grant’s side inexplicably reaching the 2010 final against Chelsea.

Along the way there was a glorious Wembley semi-final victory against Harry Redknapp’s Spurs, whose 10th anniversary is marked tomorrow.

Certainly a reason to invoke a smile from Piquionne a decade later, for buried within that cataclysmic campaign were such moments to cherish.

He told The News: ‘I liked my year at Pompey, it was fantastic, one of the best years I had in England.

‘The things which happened made it a dark season and we went into the Championship. I was on loan, so they didn’t have the money to pay Lyon, which meant I couldn’t stay. I would have liked to have stayed, though.

‘So much was happening, but players have to remain focused on the game, we must continue to train, football is our job, and you keep a cool head. As footballers, we cannot solve those problems.

‘I still had a good time, though. I lived in Sylvain Distin’s old house in Poole and was not too far from France, not too far from London, while Portsmouth was a very nice city with fantastic support.

‘I even had my first Christmas party while at Pompey. It was in London and very good, only in England do you have those, never in France! I enjoyed it.

‘In February, I met up with my former team-mate Ricardo Rocha in Kiev in the Legends Cup and I said to him “We need to go back to Fratton Park and watch a game”. I am sure that will happen, why not?

‘I really liked my time with the club.’

On April 11, 2010, Pompey were pitched into an FA Cup semi-final against fifth-placed Spurs.

The Blues had been relegated the previous day after rivals West Ham beat Sunderland 1-0 at Upton Park – and a sizeable Wembley loss was widely anticipated.

Such are the quirks of football, Spurs were managed by Harry Redknapp, who oversaw Pompey during their previous three outings at the home of football, most notably the 2008 FA Cup triumph.

Among his starting XI that day were ex-Blues duo Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe, with the mercurial Niko Kranjcar, an FA Cup winner, on the bench.

As for Pompey, they were deprived of Jamie O’Hara, unable to play against his parent club, who had loaned him to Fratton Park.

The midfielder, of course, would sweep the honours board in supporter player of the league stakes that term, including The News/Sports Mail accolade.

However, there was a shock in store, instigated by Piquionne, whose opener in the first-half of extra-time inspired an improbable 2-0 victory.

He added: ‘People thought we would lose, we were playing against Tottenham, a big team in the league, while we were the little team who had just been relegated.

‘I didn’t really think we could win it either, but we did have very good players. I don’t know why the group did not win matches in the league to stay up, but we knew we had the ability.

‘The season was very dark, but there was no pressure on us for this game, we didn’t think about anything – we just went into it with a lot of hope. I think that is what helped us beat Spurs.

‘It was goalless in extra-time, then a free-kick was played into the box, Michael Dawson slipped on the pitch, and I shot first time between the legs of the keeper to score.

‘This was my first year in England and I had scored at Wembley! Fantastic. To score there in a semi-final was amazing.

‘Then Kevin Prince Boateng scored with a penalty. Do you know what, that was the only time I won in a semi-final, after reaching four in my career, with others being at Saint-Etienne and Rennes.

‘I don’t know why we defended so well that day. We conceded a lot of goals against other teams throughout the season, but on that day I really don’t know why we were different.

‘We were fantastic, the defending was why we won the game as well, not just my goal or Kevin’s, it was a wonderful team effort that day.

‘I think it’s in your head. You play in the league and know the difficulties you have, but it changed in cup matches. When we beat Birmingham in the quarter-finals, afterwards in the dressing room we were saying “We have to get to the final”. That was our aim.

‘When we did, if Kevin had scored that penalty then we would have won that match as well.

‘The first goal was going to be very important, after he missed that Didier Drogba got the winner five minutes later.

‘The key to the game was scoring when you had the chance - and that chance was the penalty of Kevin Prince Boateng. It was the turning point.’

Piquionne scored 11 times in 45 appearances in the 2009-10 season with Pompey, with his last arriving in the 2010 FA Cup final, which ended in a 1-0 defeat.

He was reunited with Avram Grant at West Ham in a £1m permanent deal from Lyon during the summer of 2010, subsequently netting 11 goals in 62 appearances over three seasons.

There were also spells at Doncaster, Portland Timbers, Creteil and Mumbai City before retiring three years ago.

He now lives in Paris, involved in the RPC Sport Agency, where he oversees the development of young players.

And tomorrow he will reflect on that famous Wembley strike against Spurs.

‘I scored 11 goals that season at Pompey, but missed 11 or 12!’ he laughed.

‘I was happy because it was my first season. My focus was 10 goals and I beat that.

‘Avram Grant was a good manager and a nice person, who did his best in the difficulties around the club, and after that I moved with him to West Ham.

‘My opening two years at West Ham were good, but the last was very bad. The manager (Sam Allardyce) called me in and said I had to move or I would be training with the reserves.

‘I didn’t want to train with the reserves at the age of 32, so I went to Doncaster, who were my last club in England.

‘Pompey were my first club in England and I enjoyed those days – especially beating Spurs at Wembley!’

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